Samsung Electronics sues AU Optronics over flat-panel patents

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics, the world's largest flat-screen maker, sued AU Optronics Corp and three of the Taiwanese company's customers in the US, alleging they infringed some of its display patents.

Samsung filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission over the companies' use of its technologies without payment in liquid-crystal-display products, the Suwon, South Korea-based maker said on Thursday. Samsung also filed lawsuits with federal courts in Delaware and California, it said in a statement.

The customers are Sanyo Electric Co, Acer and BenQ Corp, said Nam Ki Yung, a Seoul-based spokesman at Samsung. The suit follows one that Samsung filed against Apple in April, after the iPad maker alleged Galaxy mobile devices copied the company's technologies and designs.

AU Optronics is reviewing the matter and will take the necessary steps to protect the interests of the company and its customers, Yawen Hsiao, a spokeswoman for the Hsinchu, Taiwan- based maker, said by telephone. Acer doesn't comment on pending legal cases, said Stella Chou, a company spokeswoman in Taipei. Yuko Hosaka, a spokeswoman for Sanyo in Tokyo, wasn't immediately available to comment. An official at BenQ declined to comment.